Entertainment blog - news about music and movies

Life designer Sian Jaquet is on a mission to sort out the mess in New Zealand homes and Kiwis' home lives.

The mum-of-three is a presenter on new TV3 series The Big Stuff starting Thursday aimed at sorting out problems caused by a disorganised home.

In each episode, Sian and project manager Gez Johns visit a family or couple and in just five days re-organise and renovate their home and tackle the issues that led to the chaos.

Sian, a former NZ Idol life coach, hopes viewers will be inspired to make changes in their own lives.

"Success for me will be people watching the show and thinking, `I can do that and it will cost me nothing'," she told Sunday News.

"We're all brought up to believe we should have a lovely home and it needs to be clean and tidy but how many of us actually have that?

"We get a bit blinkered and put all our focus into paying the rent or mortgage when we could be looking at how we are living and how that affects our happiness."

Sian whose background is in teaching, counselling and social work became a life designer when she emigrated to New Zealand from the UK six years ago.

She uses a process called Foundations, which enables people to make their lives more fulfilling, less complicated and ultimately more positive.

She admits she had some challenges along the way, as she pressed families into emptying their wardrobes, ditching their junk and remodelling their homes.

"We had stand up rows," Sian said, laughing.

"Every family we worked with had significant issues that needed looking at.

"We had one mum who had a sofa in her lounge that was piled up to shoulder height with washing and it had been like that for five years ever since she had twin boys.

"She wanted to get a part-time job but she didn't have the confidence and in her mind it was the washing that was stopping her. She had too much to do.

"We built her a laundry but also addressed the big issues behind the washing."

The Big Stuff, TV3, Thursday, 7.30pm.

See Also

• Tess
• Sharon Osbourne Quits X Factor
• Hollywood women gather for `Fearless’ dinner
• CORRECTION: Alicia Keys’ troubled time leads to big success